ONE Championship, formerly known as ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a multinational combat sports promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui.
Originally focused on mixed martial arts (MMA), ONE events have since incorporated Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling bouts.
Entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong founded One Fighting Championship (ONE FC) in July 2011 to unite Asia through martial arts, leveraging Singapore's infrastructure. The promotion debuted on 3 September 2011 with ONE FC: Champion vs.
Evolution and Expansion
Rebranded as ONE Championship in 2015, the promotion expanded into new disciplines and markets. It introduced the strawweight title (Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke, 2015), hosted its first Lethwei bout (2015), and crowned heavyweight (Brandon Vera, 2015), light heavyweight (Roger Gracie, 2016), and women's atomweight (Angela Lee, 2016) champions.
A historic 2018 trade with the UFC exchanged Ben Askren for Demetrious Johnson. The promotion also launched Muay Thai (Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, 2018) and kickboxing titles (Kai Ting Chuang, 2018), and hosted its sole boxing match (Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs.
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ONE raised 150 million in 2021, reaching a 1.35 billion valuation, and relocated to the Cayman Islands in 2022.
Key Figures and Operations
ONE Championship is operated by Group ONE Holdings, led by chairman/CEO Chatri Sityodtong, vice chairman Saurabh Mittal, president Hua Fung Teh, and CFO Jesley Chua. Matchmaking is overseen by VP of Operations Matt Hume, while former UFC champion Rich Franklin serves as a vice president. Key referees include Olivier Coste (MMA) and Elias Dolaptsis (Muay Thai/Kickboxing), with Dom Lau as ring announcer.
English broadcasts feature commentators Mitch Chilson, Ray Flores, Brent Stover, and Rich Franklin, alongside guest analysts like Bas Rutten and Renzo Gracie.
Global Broadcasts
ONE events air globally via networks like Vidio, Indosiar, and NET. in Indonesia; MediaCorp Channel 5 (Singapore); TV5/One Sports (Philippines); Workpoint TV/Channel 7 (Thailand); and AbemaTV (Japan).
In September 2022, ONE announced a partnership with the Royal Thai Army to hold at least 52 shows in 2023 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The weekly events started with ONE Friday Fights 1 on 20 January 2023, where Nong-O Gaiyanghadao successfully defended his bantamweight Muay Thai title with a TKO of Alaverdi Ramazanov in the third round. The event finished as the most-watched show in prime time in Thailand, with a 3.9 rating among males 15 years old and over, according to data collected by Nielsen. It was broadcast locally on Thailand's Channel 7.
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The event predominately features Muay Thai, but also includes MMA and kickboxing bouts.
ONE Championship and Amazon Prime Video
ONE Championship has also partnered with Amazon Prime Video to bring its events to a wider audience. This collaboration marks a significant step in expanding the reach of martial arts content to fans in North America.
Rules and Regulations
In August 2022, ONE Championship announced an anti-doping partnership with International Doping Tests & Management, a subsidiary of Drug Free Sport International, who will independently handle all testing of its fighters for "illegal substances", beginning with ONE 160 that month.
Using the Global Martial Arts Rule Set, bouts feature 4-ounce MMA gloves. Non-title fights have three 5-minute rounds; title fights extend to five rounds. Victory methods include KO, submission, verbal tapout, TKO, disqualification, or judges' decision.
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Governed by Global Kickboxing/Muay Thai Rule Sets, glove sizes vary by weight (8-oz for ≤65.8kg in kickboxing; 4-oz for Muay Thai). Muay Thai permits elbows, clinches, sweeps, and throws. Matches are 3-5 rounds (3 minutes each). Wins occur via KO (including throws in Muay Thai), TKO (4 total/3 round knockdowns), decision, or disqualification.
Under the Global Submission Grappling Rule Set, matches are a single 10-minute round. Victories come via submission, verbal tapout, or referee/corner stoppage. Judges decide based on submission attempts ("catches"); aggression breaks ties.
ONE Warrior Series
In November 2017, it was announced that ONE VP Rich Franklin would head up a competition called the ONE Warrior Series, searching for up-and-coming martial artists in Asia.
On September 12, 2022, ONE Warrior Series made a brief return as a reality television show titled ONE Warrior Series: Philippines. The show featured 16 mixed martial arts fighters in the Philippines competing for a $100,000 contract to compete in ONE Championship. Team Lakay members Joshua Pacio and Geje Eustaquio were featured on the show as coaches.
ONE Super Series
On February 12, 2018, ONE Championship announced the establishment of the ONE Super Series, which would feature kickboxing and Muay Thai bouts. The first event that featured bouts under Muay Thai and kickboxing rules was ONE: Heroes of Honor in Manila on 20 April 2018.
The promotion signed notable names such as Giorgio Petrosyan, Nong-O Gaiyanghadao and Fabio Pinca to feature on the bill. Since the inception of ONE Super Series, some events have used a five-roped ring, instead of the ONE circular cage, which had been used exclusively up until 2018.
The ONE Super Series kickboxing bouts adopt the oriental ruleset. As of 2020, ONE Super Series kickboxing bouts use boxing gloves.
Fighter Compensation
Fighter salaries in Asia are not publicly disclosed so information about ONE FC's fighter purses is not in the public domain.
However, in January 2014 Ben Askren revealed that he was being paid a minimum of US$50,000 per fight as well as a US$50,000 win bonus. This was also the same amount Adriano Moraes made in his first fight against Demetrious Johnson.
Criticism and Concerns
Former ONE Championship fighter Herbert Burns has alleged that the promotion shows favoritism to athletes signed to Evolve MMA, which was founded by ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
After five straight victories, he claimed that it had been agreed that he would fight for the championship, but after leaving Evolve in September 2015, he was "punished" by being sidelined for next two years.
Other former fighters have also expressed frustration with getting fights with ONE Championship. After parting ways with them in December 2023, former ONE Bantamweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes urged fighters to think twice about signing with the promotion.
After leaving the company, former ONE two-division champion Reinier de Ridder also urged fighters not to sign with the promotion. After losing the light heavyweight title in December 2022, De Ridder did not fight for the entirety of 2023 before returning to defend the middleweight title in March 2024 in what was his last fight with ONE Championship.
Champions
Some notable ONE champions include:
- A.J. - ONE Flyweight Champion with one successful title defense. 2019 ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion.
- Two-time ONE Bantamweight Champion with 8 successful title defenses, and former ONE Interim Bantamweight Champion.
Partnerships
ONE Championship has formed several partnerships to expand its reach and influence:
- On February 18, 2021, ONE partnered with American promotion Ringside United Fighting (RUF Nation).
- On November 19, 2023, ONE partnered with the UK-based Muay Thai promotion Hitman Fight League.
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